Zion NP, July 2021
Mesa views from the West Rim Trail.
Scout’s Lookout.
Alex and Callie on the West Rim Trail.
Somewhere in Nevada.
After spending a solid week in California, we packed up our campsite and drove several hours across Nevada and into Southern Utah. Alex’s sister, Callie, was working as a park ranger at Zion National Park, so we planned to spend another week visiting with her and exploring the area. This turned out to be a really generous amount of time, and it allowed us to visit some more remote areas of the park. Here are a few of our hikes from the week:
Angels Landing via West Rim Trail (5.9 Miles)
Observation Point via East Mesa Trail (7.3 Miles)
Northgate Peaks via Kolob Terrace (5.2 Miles)
West Rim Trail, Top-Down (16.4 Miles)
Our long day on the West Rim Trail was a real highlight. We started early at the Northern end of the park, beginning on the Kolob Terrace and descending into the valley over the day. It was cool and serene when we started, passing through grassy meadows with low bushes for a few miles. The scenery was spectacular once we hit the edge of the canyon and started working our way down along the rim. It was a long trail, about 15 miles from top to bottom (the most I had ever hiked in one day, at least at that point), but since we were mainly descending it wasn’t daunting. It was getting hotter as we approached the valley. Unfortunately, Callie started feeling sick and it was a struggle for her to make it to the trailhead. There may or may not have been an incident with vomit on the shuttle bus. We think she was overhydrating without consuming enough electrolytes to compensate, and she bounced back quickly once she got back home.
Besides the trails listed above, we also did the Emerald Pools Trail and the Narrows. The sheer amount of people tromping through the Narrows was a bit unsettling. Like a habitat-destroying amount of people passing through on a daily basis. There was plenty of driving around when we weren’t hiking, discoveries about Utah booze having a lower ABV, and horse riding to celebrate Alex’s birthday!
Callie and I about to get started.
Looking out over a valley squall from the East Mesa Trail.
The chains to Angels Landing eroding stone.
Pardner.